Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon 2023

Goal: < 4 hours

Official Result

Time: 4:01:07

BQ: YES!

AG: 4th

Long summary:

Training:

Once again I followed Hanson’s marathon training plan. Training went well with only some day to day adjustments on workouts. I did have one down week while on vacation where I only ran 18 miles The rest of the training though, I pretty much hit all training target paces for a 3:53 marathon.

Weather:

At start: cloudy, 52 degrees  

At finish: cloudy, 65 degrees

The Race: The race starts 40 miles from my daughter’s house and then finishes just 20 miles from her house. I drove myself to the start this year and let the family sleep in. The race is run on a gravel rail trail from Snoqualmie Pass to North Bend Washington. It was a 3 wave seeded start. I was in wave 2 and lined up next to the 4:05 pacer planning on following her group through the tunnel. Almost 1 mile into the race you enter the 1.5 mile long tunnel. The tunnel is dark even with headlamps & flashlights. Water drips through the ceiling. The surface through the tunnel is dark, wet, uneven, with bike ruts & potholes. I worried about twisting an ankle with a misstep due to the darkness. It isn't until a little over halfway through the tunnel that you can finally see “the light at the end of the tunnel”. The rest of the race, the trail runs through beautiful scenery. It is a downhill course. It is not steep downhill, probably only a 1-2% grade. The only uphill is at 8.5 miles & it is a gentle up only about 200 feet in length. Anyways, coming out of the tunnel with no mishaps, I stayed with the 4:05 pacer until mile 5. At that point I tried to settle into an 8:55 pace. At mile 8 I had to make an extended stop to use the restroom. That probably delayed me by 5 minutes or so. I was able to get right back on pace and caught the 4:05 pacer just past mile 12. At mile 15, I was greeted by my grandson’s girlfriend’s father. He was working at the rescue station there. Even though we had not met, I knew he was working there and he was watching for me. So, when I heard “It’s Caden’s grandfather” I knew it was him. I stopped and introduced myself. We took a selfie. And  since there was a porta-pot there, I made a quick stop. Evidently the 4:05 pacer had passed me again since I caught up to her around mile 17. After passing her again, the hard part of the race was starting. I kept pace as best I could but was tiring rapidly. I really don’t remember much of the race through the last few miles. I just focused on the runners ahead and kept up with them. At mile 26, the trail crosses under the highway and you can see the finish line. I had nothing left even though I tried to pick up the pace for the finish. 

Post-race: The usual; collect medal, grab water, & grab food. I found a shady spot to sit and stretch. The 4:05 pacer saw me after they finished. She said they were taking a Boston Qualifier group picture since everyone in the pace group had that goal. Even though I only ran occasionally with them she asked me to join the picture. I then caught the bus back to the start to pick up the car and drive back to my daughter's house.

Thoughts: I'm very happy with that time. It's a BQ 2024 time for my AG. That's my 4th BQ and it's also my 4th AG to qualify for Boston in. If not for a 5 minute pitstop just past mile 8 miles, I would have been well below 4 hours.

Great job and great race report!

Congrats!

Great job, Paul! Of course I've been following your training runs on Strava and wasn't surprised by your strong showing. And I know what you mean about tunnels. I almost crashed on my bike when I lost orientation in a dark tunnel, mainly because I forgot that I was wearing sunglasses. 🙄 It can get scary.

Congrats Paul - great race & report.  Hope you run Boston again as we would love to see you and DW

Paul - glad you're back to getting up here again for another of your fantastic BQ Tunnel Marathon times now complete with wave starts to reduce congestion in the first mile or so through the tunnel itself I used to love when is was around 100 runners that made it possible to run in those days with Francesca, Dove, Mariposai before they left me in the dust.

However, don't forget The Cable Line and The Old Mailbox trails in case your Pike's Peak legs need a steady uphill workout with some of the other local hill runners.

ps henrun - huh? I remember you skied parts of the UTMB but you should be in Guinness for the tunnel course.

Great job and report, Paul.  Hate those bathroom stops!   That tunnel would have made me crazy and I would have fallen!  Good work getting through it!

Yes, that was a fun trip, back in 2013. 

I almost crashed on my bike when I lost orientation in a dark tunnel, mainly because I forgot that I was wearing sunglasses. 

Yep--as you can see in the picture, I'm wearing sunglasses... and I wore them for about 3/4 of the way through the tunnel.  I spent the whole time trying to figure out why I couldn't see.

How many times have you done this race, Paul?

Great race P!! Hope we see you for a Boston meet-up!!